Family Spat
by Jason Strong
Summary: In the Demigod Files, Nico tells Percy and Thalia that Persephone turned him into a dandelion. But, why would she do that? What could he have said to make her want to? Read to find out. Oneshot.


I couldn't stand it anymore. I wanted my sister back.

It had been what? Two years since her death? And I had mourned her every day since. And that's why I was in the Underworld on this day. I was going to strike a deal with Hades. A deal that didn't require a soul-for-a-soul. He had done it before in ancient times, so maybe he'd find it in his nonexistent heart to do it for his own son, right? Probably not. But I _at least _had to try. You really don't know what it's like for me to not have my sister. She wasn't just a sibling to me. She took care of me as if she were my mother. Sure, we fought unconditionally, just as any brother/sister team would. But in the end, we always worked it out, because we were the only family—the only people who cared about each other.

I was through being mad at Percy. I don't exactly know why I was mad at him in the first place. I really should have been mad at myself, which I was, ow that I think about it. I should have _begged _Bianca not to go on that quest. She wouldn't have listened to me at first, but if she saw how upset I would be if she went, she might not have gone. And she'd still be with me, and I wouldn't be going to my father's palace asking for her back.

As I entered the Throne Room, I immediately saw my father's throne. Large, dark stone, with a skull at the head. But he wasn't sitting in it. Sword drawn, I called for him.

A door opened behind his thrown, and a woman stepped out. Her brunette hair was pulled back into French braids, and she carried a white rose to match her long dress.

"I need to see my father." I told her. Looking back on it, the whole ordeal may have went much more smooth if those hadn't been my opening words.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked, looking almost offended.

I was a bit surprised by her comeback. "I... ah... Hades—"

"Is much too busy to be dealing with half-bloods. Therefore, by being here, you're wasting your time, my time, and his time." She interrupted.

I don't know what came over me, somehow, I knew who this woman was, but I was mad now. "He better _make _time."

She looked at me skeptically. "Is that so?" Just then, her dress started changing colors, from a pure white, to a vibrant green, then red, and blue. "And what gives you the right to order around a god? Especially this particular god." She stepped closer.

"He's my father," I explained, sucking in a breath when she got close enough. She smelled of no flower I had ever smelled, but yet, I knew it was a flower scent. It was sweet, yet somewhat sour once inhaled. It was an aroma I could sit and smell all day. She turned around, and plopped up into the smaller throne next to my father's.

"He's been my husband for centuries, and I've never spoken to him that way." Her eyes looked bitter, and full of regret.

"That would make you..." My voice trailed off. I knew it was her, just, for some reason, I didn't want to believe it.

"Yes," she continued. "Your stepmother. I am Persephone, Queen of the Underworld."

"You're the woman Demeter cried about every winter?" I asked. She nodded. "I can't say I see why..." I continued in a mumble.

"What was that?" She asked sharply.

"Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself." she stared at me. "Look, can I see my dad or not?"

Her dress turned to a light orange as she looked down at the rose in her hand. She began stroking a petal. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so!" she said, glaring at me, daring me to challenge her again.

I stared at her, trying to figure out why she hated me so much. What had I ever done to her? This was the first time I met her, right? That when I figured it out. "You're jealous." I realized.

She looked bewildered. "Jealous? Of you? Don't make me laugh."

"Not of me," I corrected. "My mother."

"Me? Jealous of a mortal? Nonsense." she said quickly, placing the rose carefully on the arm of her throne.

"Just like Hera," I went on, knowing she was going to blast me into oblivion, but not really caring. "You're jealous of the affairs my father has."

"I most certainly am _not." _she snapped. "I demand you leave my palace at once."

I crossed my arms across my chest stubbornly. "Not until I talk to my father."

She slid off her throne and made her way back to me. "Do not disobey me, boy. I am not the goddess you want as an enemy."

"I'll take my chances."

She glared at me angrily. I glared right back at her. "Just like a demigod." she growled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"It means," she began, hate in her voice. "That all you half-bloods are nothing but mistakes. Inbreeds. Why, if you were a dog, you'd be considered a mutt."

"Funny, all the gods seem to think that way, and then they ask us to do all the things they're too lazy to leave their thrones to do." I snapped back.

"And they're always happy to do our bidding. Even if it costs them they're lives." she added.

I shifted my weight. "You seem to think you're so much better than everyone else. But I have to ask. If you were so much better, than why would Hades go to _mortals _for romance?"

"I'm not down here all the time," she explained. "He only uses mortals for his personal pleasure when I'm in the mortal realm." she seemed to be getting angrier. "You're mother, for example, was one of his pawns. Do you think he ever really cared for her? Really ever loved her? She was just the first gullible tramp he found." she turned to walk away, but I was truly mad now. I grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back to face me.

"My mother was beautiful, smart, funny, and fun to be around." I told her. I was practically yelling in her face. "All the things you're not!"

She slapped me across the face. I brought me hands to the reddening cheek, running the tips of my fingers over it softly.

"One more word," she growled. "And you'll discover what it feels like to be a plant in my garden."

Anger pulsed through my veins. She had no right to treat me the was she was. No matter if she was the wife of my father.

Still, I dared to challenge her. "You are _so _off my Christmas list."

Without another word, and before I had time to react, she snapped, and I started to shrink. Suddenly, she looked like a giant, and I was only as tall as her shoe. She reached down, and picked me up.

"Yes," she said, looking me over. "You will make a wonderful addition to my garden."

**A/N so, how did you like it? Let me know, and if I get a really good response, I'll do more oneshots. **

**I know the people who read my regular stories are cursing me out right now, because I should be updating one of those, but I needed to get this oneshot out of the way. I have a four-day weekend, so new chapters will come flying up. I promise. **


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